Destiny's Reasons
by Runic Knight
Summary: Tohru strives to survive alone after her father deserts her during an exploration expedition, but there are already settlers who call the land home. Tohru pledges to keep her late mother happy; can she fulfill her Destiny on The Isle? [AU]
1. Segment 01 Slipping Away Unnoticed

And so it began. **Destiny's Reasons**

**Segment 01 - Slipping Away Unnoticed**   
by Runic Knight (September 26th 2003)

She had been walking for such a long time. She had a large burlap pack on her back, carrying all the supplies that would ever need to survive in the harsh wilderness of The Isle. In one hand, a weathered letter, in the other, a half-full bottle of water. The bottle had a sticky label taped across it with her name, Tohru Honda.

She decided it was time for a break from her hike. It was getting late into the afternoon and the dense forest was getting darker by the minute. Little sunlight could seep through the branches in the first place. She spotted a large tree, one that was so large and old that three people could have extended their arms around the diameter its trunk. Its branches looked sturdy, and several of them extended horizontally.

She pulled out a thick rope from her backpack and tossed one end over the first branch. She grabbed the other end and tied it together to form a large loop. She used it to propel herself up the side of the trunk, along with her supplies, so she'd have a place to sleep for the night. 

She would have settled for the much safer ground, but after a chance meeting with a sleepy but monstrous bear a few nights prior, she felt that being in the air would be better for survival. She untied the rope, and then attached one end around her waist, the other around the width of the wide branch. She didn't want to fall down from such a height. She opened her bag again and pulled out a heavy blanket, her most space-consuming item, and covered herself in it. She shivered against the bark beneath her. It was already getting so cold, even though it was only fall.

She felt almost as if she were made of glass, one false move and she would collapse, splitting into innumerable fragments. 

Who would be there to pick up the pieces? She was alone. 

She still wasn't quite sure why she was living like this. She couldn't understand it. 

Tohru had been visiting this far away land with her father, a prominent explorer from the Upper Continent. For the first time, he had asked her to accompany him on one of his missions. Usually she stayed with her elderly grandfather who didn't even know her name for the months he was away.

He had already been to this place before, the land he called The Isle, and he had convinced her that it was too wonderful not to see with her own eyes; he hadn't even told anyone else about it yet. She agreed readily, excited that her father was allowing her to do something so important with him.

They had travelled by ship, a large vessel that her father had designed himself. It was one of his proudest achievements in his life. It took months to travel the distance, especially since there was no crew working for him on the ship. She wasn't sure why, but she hadn't thought about how suspicious that was at the time.

"Tohru, Tohru, we're here, get up honey-pie," her father had said, calling her by a silly nickname as he shook her gently on the night they arrived at the shore. She had slept for almost the entire trip, only waking to eat. She had learned something new about herself in this journey - she got seasick easily. She was glad to finally be off the ship and back on steady land.

The Isle definitely was beautiful, no doubt about that. Where ever she had looked, she could see foliage for as far as her eyes could see. Spectacular. They set up a small camp sight, not far inland, and started a fire.

"I know you're tired, so why don't you go back to sleep?" her father had suggested, brushing some of his untamed brown bangs out of his eyes. He poked the fire with a stick in his hand then tossed it to smolder among the other kindling.

Although she had had a slight urge to run into the forest and explore the nearby region right away, that nagging sickness which had settled to the pit of her stomach decided to heed his advice. She rolled herself up into a warm blanket, shivering a little. "Goodnight, dad," she called, still smiling despite the slight illness that plagued her.

"Good bye, Tohru," he had said with a sad smile on his face. Then he amended his words, "I mean, good night, honey-pie."

The next morning, she had awoke to the stillness of the forest. The fire had been extinguished, and her father's blanket was left behind, empty. Why? The only answer was a small envelope on top of her father's blanket which was held in place by a small stone.

'Once three nights pass, open this letter to receive the Destiny you have been looking for,' was written in her father's neat cursive.

With nothing to distract her from her thoughts, she spent her nights attempting to sleep in peace, but her mind kept straying. She wondered why she had been left behind to fend for herself. Why was she here, so isolated from everyone else she had ever known? She was driving herself mad with these overwhelming feelings of solitude.

She could perfectly remember the skyline of The Capital. She had grown up there, in that enormous city, one so populated that you were certainly never alone. Whenever she had walked down the street in this place, she saw people everywhere. Some lived in the countless rows of skyscrapers, others lived illegally on the streets. It was one of those places where you were either living the high life, or you were barely staying alive. In this location, your success in life was dependant on how well you could employ the resources around you, and it was awful.

What a world it was. In all directions, she could only see grey buildings. There were no trees, shrubs, or even grass. Practically everything was paved, and the heat radiating from the cement allowed little plant life to survive. The air was thin in oxygen, the only plants turning carbon dioxide back into oxygen were the measly weeds that lived scattered in the cracks of the sidewalk, and small oxygen-radiators that were installed in every home. That is, unless you didn't have a home.

* * * * *

__

A woman in her early twenties sat huddled up against the side of an industrial factory, a black plastic garbage bag of belongings at her side. She covered herself up in an enormous quilt. It was one of those quilts where each generation in a family would add their own square to adorn it. But where were those family members now to help this poor woman?

Tohru hurried off to school, taking a shortcut down the passageway next to the factory. In her pocket she carried an emergency oxygen puffer, just incase she would ever have to stay outside for too long. Her explorer father could afford such treasured devices, of course. She ran down, tripping over the edge of the poor woman's quilt. She fell to the ground, taking a piece of the quilt along with her.

"I'm so sorry!" she had cried to the woman, understanding what it must have been like to live on the streets. Tohru's late mother had lived on the streets for years before meeting her father, and she had heard many tales of survival. She cringed at the feeling of blood running down her knee, a deep scrape from the uneven rocks. She glanced at the woman, and then noticed what she carried in her hands - a baby that had been hidden out of view by the blanket.

He was so pale. Tohru stared, her forehead creasing with worry. She immediately searched in her coat pocket, her injured knee completely forgotten. "Please! Take this, for your baby!" She placed the puffer in the woman's hand and smiled. The woman made to protest, but Tohru shook her head wildly. "Please take it. My mother always told me that I should help someone in need. I believe that Angels will be sure to take care of mother in Paradise if I help people as much as I can here in the Upper Continent."

That was Tohru's mantra, her source of strength. Surely, her mother would be well taken care of if she tried her best at all times.

The woman's mouth dropped as she looked at the motherless child before her smiled. "You too....you too, have lost your mother?"

Tohru nodded. "Use it well, madam," she said over her shoulder as she continued on her way, a slight limp in her step. "For survival! Don't worry, Destiny will still lead you on your way!"

Yes, it was had to be Destiny. She would always believe in that, for it gave her mother's death meaning. It had to have been all of Fate's doing. Why else would she suddenly just...stop breathing? For that reason, Tohru couldn't cry about her mother. She had to be strong and follow the path that Destiny set before her.

* * * * *

The sky of The Capital was never full of lively colours. At the height of the day, it was a dusty blue, but it would quickly fade to black each day. The air was so thick of pollution that it was hard to see in the distance - it was so hazy, just like the minds of the people who lived outdoors there. The moneymakers had sucked their home for all it was worth, and now they were left with disgusting results.

But of course, they were rich, which was all that they thought about. Absolutely, they could buy happiness with their earnings! They had to find a way, because they were wealthy and powerful, so they assured themselves that they could have anything that they desired.

What a world it was indeed. But even if that world was disgusting, it contained the people she had cared about, and her mementos.

* * * * *

She couldn't sleep that night, she felt so unprotected even when so high in that tree, hidden among the vibrant orange leaves. She looked at her sack which held the important letter, the one she had resisted opening for the past two nights. It was the third night, so she pulled it out and ripped the flap open.

Out came a piece of paper, creased into three sections.

__

The Isle is a magnificent place, even if it is small in comparison to our home. It is fertile and clean, and not to mention filled with strong and courageous feelings of nature. I can feel it in the air. Most people wouldn't notice its simple beauty, its historic elegance. What is it about this place that captured my heart? I want you to find it, and take it all in. Come find it, following nothing but the call of the wind and the pull of nature's magnetism.

Although it is a wonderful place, you are alone. This place is surely uninhabited. If people lived in this pure state of nature, it would surely be breaking down like our home. You know that the Upper Continent is in poor shape. The massive rain forests have been nearly all cut down to make products to sell for export, the water is so thick and polluted, and morale is at an all time low. I am glad I found my way here, as the first explorer to claim this land in the name of personal quintessence. I'm sorry I had to leave you here all alone, but it is the best thing for you, because I treasure you. I have to return to the Upper Continent, and assure the authorities that this desirable place doesn't exist.

You'll understand this gift that I have given you when you are older, I suppose. I couldn't let you live in that horrible place where it hurts to breathe. You don't deserve that sort of treatment, especially since you are my only daughter. Your mother passed away because of those horrible living conditions, and I will never have you subjected to it too. I'll keep everyone away, away from both you and the land that is now yours.

Be safe and sound,   
Your ever loving father, Katsuya Honda.

She read it over in her mind several times over, soaking in every detail. "Dad," she cried out, "what could I ever do in a place without the people I love?"

Only the sound of crickets echoed in the night air in reply.

"Why do I cry out? There is no one to listen to me in any case. I am just a fool." She dropped the letter and it floated down to the ground as she covered her face to her hands."

She could see her mother's image in her mind, smiling down at her among the Angels. "Oh, mom! How will I ever be certain that you will be well cared for in the Paradise of Heaven? I have no one to care over, surely someone will come and find me!" She knew this could never be the case - no one else knew this land existed, and it was uninhabited! What would she do?

She froze when she heard someone - or something - shuffling in some of the fallen leaves down on the ground below her. A monster?

Author Note: This is my newest Fruits Basket fan fiction! I've really got to work on completing the ones that I've already started, but I wanted to create a foothold so I wouldn't forget about this idea. XD This story uses the characters of Fruits Basket in an **Alternate Universe.** I will be using the English format for names (ie Tohru Honda instead of Honda Tohru) since this story isn't taking place in Japan-like environment. I hope you'll enjoy! I was inspired by the movie _Black Robes_, which I watched in Canadian History class.


	2. Segment 02 Cryptic Waves

And so it began. **Destiny's Reasons**

**Segment 02 - Cryptic Waves**   
by Runic Knight (October 6th 2003)

Tohru tried to bring her shivering body to a standstill, but it was no use. She pulled her blanket to cover herself more fully, only leaving a place to see from. She peered through the branches to the ground, and saw two forms come into view. 

Overhead, a soaring black bird screeched in the apathetic night sky. It didn't worry her, for all she could think of was the fate that was in store for her. She held her breath; no, she would not be defeated so easily, she decided. She still had to live in order to keep her mother happy! 'I have to face the conflict head on!' Of course, this is easier said than done.

She released her stored breath slowly as she realized that they were not gargantuan monsters, but two young girls like herself. 

The taller, sturdier looking girl of the two had bent down towards the ground. She examined the fallen message Tohru had dropped in her distress, her smooth, blonde hair falling in front of her face. She wore a dark brown tunic and a loose pair of pants. Her outfit was adorned with large, decorative beads down the sides of the arms and legs.

"Hey Saki, what a strange leaf, I've never seen one so...rectangular before!" The blonde stared at the white piece of paper which she crumpled slightly between her fingers. "Did the frost come yesterday morn'? I've never seen one so smooth and lifeless, or with these strange markings!" She could not recognize the letters written, so she stood up and held it out toward the other girl.

Tohru listened closely, ignoring the subdued sounds of the prowling forest animals. They spoke English just as she did, but it was different. Emphasises were placed on different syllables, and some words sounded distorted, but they were still recognisable. 'How do they know English?' she couldn't help but wonder, but pushed the thought away as the other girl made her speaking debut.

"Arisa." A second girl, shorter and with a thinner build joined her friend. She wore a simple hanging black dress, nothing too complex, covered by a large fur skin draped around her shoulders. It was trimmed with shining white beads. The overall darkness of her clothes intermingled with her midnight black hair, but greatly contrasted her pale skin. "I recall hearing about these letters - the alphabet - from the elders," Saki explained, taking the 'leaf' from her friend. "Remember my - and your - people's history. Only those who had power granted to them by the monarch could read and write." With two fingers she took the leaflet of paper from Arisa and closed her eyes. "It surely isn't natural to this forest...someone else brought it here...I sense...feelings of emotion in this?"

Arisa rolled her eyes. "Those waves again, right? Sure, sure. But whatever the case is, someone's here with foreign goods. So that means that whoever is up there," she pointed up toward the top of the tree, "is a rich blooded noble? How did they manage to find us after two hundred years of being secluded from them?"

"It has been said that we escaped from oppression so long ago by fleeing the Upper Continent during the Horrid King's reign...we were supposed to be free forever. The winds of change are starting to spin. The ancestors said this time would come, and now it will - beyond the shadow of a doubt - begin."

"Do you have to be so cryptic?"

Saki shrugged her shoulders, ending Arisa's questioning period. They exchanged glances, then looked up into tree branches. Tohru shrank back against the main stalk of the tree, trying to stay out of view. "Most definitely, someone is up there."

"Hey, you up there! Get down here right now! I'm prepared to use force!" The blonde called fiercely, weaving her head to and fro to get a better look at the hidden person in the tree.

"No, you're not," Saki chastised in a whisper. "What if he's armed? You don't even have a stick to hit him with."

"Yeah, but he doesn't know that we don't," Arisa said with a grin.

Saki sighed and paced in a circle around the base of the trunk, waiting as the fugitive made her way down the tree, her backpack on her back. Her blanket lay forgotten, caught in one of the branches; Tohru was much too worried to go back up to get it. 

She climbed down, facing away from the two girls awaiting her. Finally, reaching the bottom, she spun around slowly to face them. 

"Okay, that cannot be what a noble is!" Arisa whispered loudly, surprised at the girl standing before her. Tohru's normally beige pants were stained with mud, her shoes were caked with grime and her nose had a smudge of dirt smeared across it. Her hair, which she hadn't really worried in her time in the forest tumbled down her back in tangles. She did not look the part of what they expected.

The noble who was fated to come back to this far-off land, the one that would forcibly take them back to work as lowly peasants for the age-old sovereign, was not quite as well off as they had been foretold.

Tohru couldn't say a word, she merely looked back and forth between her captors, so scared about what they might to do a trespasser on their land. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together at her chest. 'Please don't hurt me, I didn't know, I didn't choose to come here. Mother, what should I do?'

Saki stared at Tohru, studying her for a moment. "No, she does not carry the air of those righteous nobles. Besides, they must have died by now like our ancestors who revolted against the monarchy in the Old World."

Tohru gaped at them, still confused, but an ounce of understanding starting to sink in. What they were talking about, it was just like what she had learned in school when she was younger. 

The Upper Continent had not always been the economical marketplace it was that day. No, only two hundred years before, Kings and Queens had ruled over the land with full jurisdiction - with no elected council, so there was no public voice. They had the power which was passed down to them through their ancestors' bloodlines. Some of the rulers cared about the lives of every single person living in the Upper Continent, but others ruled only to gain financial power. 

Many people suffered from their rulers' greed. They were the peasants of the colony, who could no longer stand to be living in such an oppressive environment. It was then when an unexplained phenomenon had occurred - half of the peasants had mysteriously disappeared, and were never seen again. 

And now Tohru knew. The lesson she had learned was not some strange folktale that turned into a believed historical story. It was the truth. They had not disappeared, they had fled by boat, and they arrived here miraculously.

Even in the technological age Tohru lived in, they still had a King in power, King Akito Sohma. He was a dying man, suffering from a disease which no one could understand. He was merely a figurative power. He had no real jurisdiction to create laws. But that was besides the point, Tohru was in trouble! She couldn't believe that she had zoned out of such an important conversation, one that might mean life or death.

"So what should we do?" Arisa asked Saki, keeping one watchful eye on Tohru.

"I suppose we'll do just what we did for you, Arisa." Saki said with a smile.

"Do what? Take me from my home, teach me your ways, and try to make me believe in your intuition-based beliefs? It didn't really work for me, I wouldn't expect it to work on someone like her," Arisa scoffed. 

'So Arisa is not part of Saki's family - had she been kidnapped?' Tohru suddenly realized. 'Maybe I will be kidnapped too? Oh no! But wait, Arisa doesn't look like she's been treated badly, in fact, she looks very healthy! Mother, I'm so confused!'

Arisa seemed to sense Tohru's confusion. "Ah, so you are not used to this custom? I thought it was weird too." Arisa nodded, ignoring a subtle look shot at her from Saki's eyes. "It is the nature of this village. They are supposed to be accepting of other people in times of need in hopes of their reciprocity. I think it is foolish."

"Ah," Tohru said, not knowing how she was supposed to react.

Arisa never had been a traditionalist, and it showed. "Not everyone is a good person." Tohru looked downcast.

"Arisa! You don't feel it radiating from her? Surely, this girl cannot be bad," Saki countered, then turned to Tohru. "What is your name, girl of the trees?"

"Tohru Honda," she immediately replied, not thinking clearly.

"A foreign sounding name," Saki smiled. "I like it. I am Saki Hanajima. And that is - "

"Arisa Uotani," Arisa finished, wanting to declare her own name, not having it said for her. 

"All right, so let's go home," Saki said, after introductions were done.

"Ehh?" Tohru gasped. "Home? Me?"

"Yes, of course you," Saki blinked. "Who else?" 

"I don't know...maybe that owl," Tohru looked down to her feet again, feeling sheepish.

Arisa cracked a grin. It was the first time Tohru had seen her without a disgruntled look on her face. "You're a strange one. I think you'll fit in here with the Southern Tribe."

"Southern Tribe?" Tohru repeated.

"Yes, that is what our clan is called," Saki explained shortly as she started walking. "And as long as you promise to never fight against our tribe, you can live among us as one of us."

Was it really so easy to be accepted into a tribe? Tohru couldn't believe her wonderful luck. "Thank the heavens!" Tohru cried out in happiness, walking in step behind Saki. 'Oh mother! I will still be able to make sure you remain well-taken care of in Paradise! I will make sure that I can do the best that I can for Arisa and Saki! It'll be my new duty. I'll find my place, and then I will be able to find out what makes this such a wonderful place, just like father asked of me!' She realized she must have been rude, for Saki had raised her eyebrow in confusion. "Thank you, Madam Saki Hanajima, thank you, Madam Arisa Uotani, for taking me in!"

"The heavens?" Saki finally questioned.

"Yes, my mother is up there in Paradise right now. She passed away a long time ago." Tohru looked upwards as she walked, staring into the pitch-black night sky which was framed by foliage, probably dreaming of her mother's smile.

"She does not walk among the spirits of the forest at night?"

"Ah," Tohru wasn't sure of what she should say, she didn't want to impose on their beliefs, so she said halfheartedly, "well, I suppose she might be."

Arisa had remained quiet, but she spoke up. "As you can tell, Saki's intrigued by spiritual energy."

"Of course. Energy is everywhere. The force of all those who have passed on before us linger within the forests. That's why you are never lost as long as you open yourself up to their waves."

"Yeah, yeah," Arisa said carelessly.

"You still do not believe that this is the truth? Even after all these years living among us?"

"I'm not saying that!" Arisa looked around, as if sensing the spirits watching her from the treetops as she spoke. "It's just that I'm not going to let it overtake my life."

"Hm, is that so?" Saki faced forward. "Well, I can't stop you from believing what you believe," she turned to Tohru, "nor can I stop you from believing in your Paradise. I will not force it."

"I agree, we shouldn't argue, because all of our answers to the explanations of life are right in their own way, right?" Tohru beamed, walking alongside the two young girls toward her new home.

Author Note: I tried to deliver a lot of information in this chapter, because I really want the world this is taking place in to be understood. We have our first mention of the Sohmas, with King Akito. Cursed Sohma members will be making their appearances in the story soon. ^_~ Until next time!


End file.
